Kenny Chesney Lauds Those ‘Guys Named Captain’ in New Song [Listen]

Kenny Chesney's "Guys Named Captain" is a quiet, but heartfelt, tribute to the freer-than-free spirits of the world. The track closes the country star's forthcoming new album, but he's giving fans an advance listen to it with its Friday (April 17) release.

Featuring CMA winners Mac McAnally and John Hobbs on acoustic guitar and piano, respectively, "Guys Named Captain" toasts to those guys you'll find near the water, "tucked into a table in a corner or sitting near the far end of the bar," Chesney explains in a press release. "The adventures they’ve had, places they’ve gone, the way they live their life for the sea ... Free spirit might be too restricting a label for them. There’s nobody more loyal or more committed to their friends."

Chesney's met plenty of these people, he says — "in the islands, Key West, Mexico and even on the road" — and while they're each different, they all share a common love of the freedom that life on the water or on tour brings. "Those things take them away, bring them back, but mostly allow them to be free," Chesney explains.

The singer, an Ernest Hemingway fan, sees a bit of The Old Man and the Sea in the song: "that whole idea of this man who’s lived his life on the water, and what sailing means, how they share it with others," Chesney reflects.

"It was the first thing I thought when I heard it," he adds, "and it really lifts up those guys who have so much swagger, but no real need to let you know.”

"Guys Named Captain" follows Chesney's latest single, "Here and Now," both of which come from his forthcoming Here and Now album. The record is due out on May 1 and was produced by Chesney and Buddy Cannon, who previously worked with Chesney on 2018's Songs for the Saints.

Chesney has a tour planned in support of Here and Now this summer. His Chillaxification 2020 Tour has been pushed back from an April 18 start to a May 30 one in light of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.